Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — Israel’s military has warned that Iron Dome would be ineffective in any war against Hizbullah.

Officials said the Israel Air Force would be unable to stop massive missile and rocket salvos by the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah. They said Iron Dome, which intercepted hundreds of Palestinian rockets during the 50-day war with the Gaza Strip in mid-2014, would be overwhelmed by Hizbullah.

“We will not be able to provide the umbrella that was provided in the south by Iron Dome,” Maj. Gen. Yair Golan, head of the Israel Army’s Northern Command, said.

In an interview on Israel Army Radio on Oct. 29, Golan, responsible for military operations along the border with Lebanon and Syria, said a war with Hizbullah could erupt. He said Hizbullah was preparing its arsenal of more than 100,000 missiles and rockets as well as digging tunnels from Lebanon to Israel.

“We have no positive information meaning that there are tunnels,” Golan said. “That said, this idea of going below ground is not foreign to Lebanon and is not foreign to Hizbullah and so we have to suppose as a working assumption that there are tunnels.”

Officials said Israel sought to accelerate development of the David’s Sling missile and rocket defense system. They said David’s Sling was designed to intercept missiles and rockets with a range of 280 kilometers, far beyond the capabiity of Iron Dome.

“We and Hizbullah are conducting a kind of mutual-deterrence balance,” Golan said. “There is no absolute deterrence.”

  Military warns Israel: Iron dome won’t help against Hizbullah, WorldTribune.com